Vito Ciancimino

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Vito Ciancimino
Vito Ciancimino

Vito Ciancimino (Corleone, April 2, 1924 - Rome, November 19, 2002) was an Italian politician who served as mayor of Palermo, Sicily. He belonged to the Christian Democrat party (DC - Democrazia Cristiana), and was the first Italian politician to be found guilty of Mafia membership. In 2001 he was declared guilty of being involved in several Mafia-linked crimes, and in 2002 the Municipality of Palermo demanded restitution of 150 million euros, of which only 7 million were recovered.

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[edit] Early career

Ciancimino was born in Corleone, a village notorious for its powerful Mafia clans, such as the Corleonesi. Ciancimino's very poor childhood revolved around his father's barber shop in Corleone, giving him early contacts with the local Mafia bosses. He later broke off studying engineering at Palermo University to work as an interpreter for Italy's post-war allied military government.[1]

As a Christian Democrat politician, he became a protégé of Bernardo Mattarella, who supported his political and financial career. In 1950 Ciancimino obtained concessions for all railway transport inside Palermo. The three other firms that hade made a bid were put out of the game, because Ciancimino's bid was accompanied by a letter of Mattarella, who was then Minister of Transport.[2]

[edit] Sack of Palermo

The railway concession became a turning point in Ciancimino's life. He became a rich man, moved house and changed his style of life. In 1959, when a fellow Christian Democrat, Salvo Lima, became mayor of Palermo, Ciancimino became assessor for public works and building permits. This period would be the peak phase of what is called the Sack of Palermo, a construction boom that led to the destruction of the city's green belt, and villas that gave it architectural grace, to make way for characterless and shoddily constructed apartment blocks.[3] In the meantime Palermo’s historical centre was allowed to crumble.

Ciancimino, described by the Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta as "a pushy Corleonese embezzler", made a vast fortune in bribes.[4] Ciancimino was candid about the need for bribes. If the Christian Democrats had 40% of the votes, they needed 40% of the construction contracts, he explained. Italy simply would not work without bribes: "It's as though someone wanted to remove one of the four wheels of a car."[1]

[edit] Mayor of Palermo

Ciancimino's election as Mayor of Palermo in October 1970 caused an uproar. The Italian Parliament's Antimafia Commission expressed reservations about his election and he was soon under investigation for embezzlement of city funds, as well as for his apparent links with the mafia. In April 1971 Ciancimino stood down from office. Although the Antimafia commission would provide abundant documentation of the relationship between the Mafia and other such political and entrepreneurial notables, Ciancimino remained among the untouchables.[5]

[edit] Arrest and conviction

Ciancimino was arrested in 1984 after the testimony of Mafia pentito (turncoat) Tommaso Buscetta.[6] He was charged with improperly awarding $400m worth of public works contracts, mafia conspiracy, fraud and embezzlement. Magistrates discovered he had a vast fortune, held in bank deposit books under imaginary names or in Canadian banks.[1]

Buscetta linked him with two of the most notorious mafiosi: Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano, the leaders of the most powerful Mafia group, the Corleonesi, from Ciancimino's hometown. After lengthy judicial proceedings he was brought to trial and in 1992 was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for Mafia associations and for laundering millions of dollars.[5] It was the first time a politician had been found guilty of working with the Mafia.[4] Thanks to protracted appeals, the sentence did not become effective until November 2001. Ciancimino was expelled from the Christian Democrat Party.[5]

In 1992, following the Mafia murders of Salvo Lima and the Antimafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, Ciancimino offered to infiltrate Cosa Nostra and negotiate a solution to terrorist aggression against the Italian state. He may even have contributed to the 1993 arrest of the Mafia boss Totò Riina, whose removal cleared the ground for Bernardo Provenzano, a wilier and less bloodthirsty boss from Corleone, whose name has been linked to that of Ciancimino. Ciancimino's counterpart in the talks was the commander of Italy's domestic intelligence service.[1]

[edit] Last years and missing fortune

Ciancimino spent his last years in relative comfort. Since he was in poor health, his sentence was commuted to house arrest in Rome.[5] He was allowed to go shopping, and on chauffer-driven rides into the Alban hills. When the Palermo city council sought €150m in damages from him in March 2002, he retorted: "Do they want it all in cash?"[1] Treasures already identified as belonging to him include a yacht, historic buildings, a Ferrari and smart shops in Palermo.[4] Ciancimino died of a heart attack aged 78 on November 19, 2002, leaving a wife and five children. His fortune remained elusive.

His son, Massimo Ciancimino, was arrested on June 2006 and charged with money laundering and other offences. Prosecutors believe the fortune accumulated by the son and heir of Vito Ciancimino could be about €60 million.[4] They claim to have established a paper trail linking Ciancimino Jr. to accounts in the Virgin Islands, Amsterdam and Switzerland. In the notes found at the shack outside Corleone where Provenzano was arrested, two of the hundreds of his notes mention Ciancimino by name. One note claims angrily that Ciancimino had stolen "money not his to have fun in Rome, money that was meant to go to the families of [Mafia] prisoners who are in need ..."[4]

Ciancimino was Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano's creature, he protected and promoted him to protect his own interests. The pentito Gioacchino Pennino revealed that Provenzano had guided and advised Ciancimino, launched and directed his political career, and personally confronted anyone who was disloyal.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Obituary: Vito Ciancimino, The Guardian, November 26, 2002
  2. ^ Servadio, Mafioso, p. 207-08
  3. ^ Schneider & Schneider (2003). Reversible Destiny, p. 14-19
  4. ^ a b c d e Son of Sicilian mayor arrested as Mafia fortune is tracked down, The Independent, June 10, 2006
  5. ^ a b c d Obituary of Vito Ciancimino, The Times, November 21, 2002
  6. ^ Ex-Palermo Mayor Arrested, The New York Times, November 5, 1984
  7. ^ Dickie, Cosa Nostra, p. 426-27
  • Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia, London: Coronet, ISBN 0-340-82435-2 (Review in the Observer, February 15, 2004)
  • Schneider, Jane T. & Peter T. Schneider (2003). Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia, and the Struggle for Palermo, Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23609-2
  • Servadio, Gaia (1976), Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day, London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-44700-2

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